For art
therapists and other interested mental health professionals who wish to incorporate drawings
into their assessment options, familiarity with the Diagnostic Drawing Series
(DDS), a standardized art interview of tested reliability and validity, is
essential. The three-drawing DDS, originally designed for use by
clinicians in adult psychiatric settings, has been studied continuously in an
international collaborative research project for the past thirty years.

This intensive
weekend workshop will teach participants how to administer and rate a DDS, and
features a survey of research findings with an emphasis on their usefulness to
the practicing clinician. The faculty will introduce a structure-based,
trilevel approach to the image that enables participants to integrate research
data with other information about the client’s pictures and art making process.
A method of DDS report-writing for clinical settings will also be taught.

Graphic
profiles typically seen in DDSs from different psychiatric groups will be
emphasized in order to facilitate differential diagnosis between those with schizophrenia, major depression, borderline personality disorder,
dissociative identity disorder, bipolar disorder, dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and others. DDSs
from cross-cultural groups will also be described.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

This workshop
is appropriate for clinicians and graduate level students with little or no
previous knowledge of this tool, as well as those who use the DDS in their
daily work. Participants will have opportunities for skill building and to
consolidate what they have learned in the didactic sessions through group
rating experientials focusing on their client DDSs in terms of structural and
other criteria. Familiarity with the DSM is essential.

Participants'
learning experience will be greatly enhanced by bringing three or more
correctly collected DDS from a client (age 13 and older; not a friend or
relative) to be worked with by the group throughout the weekend. Pre-registrants
will be e-mailed advance instructions on how to collect DDSs for this purpose.

Participants
will learn to

Define the
central concepts of the DDS method, such as isomorphism, structure, and
multileveledness

Administer a
DDS properly and rate it with confidence

Describe
multiple benefits of using this valid and reliable art interview, and identify
opportunities for using it in clinical practice

Draw upon
more than 20 years of normative DDS studies to use in client assessment

Write up DDS
evaluations of adult clients using a method of reporting that addresses
research-based differential diagnosis

Several sets of properly collected DDSs (directions for collecting DDSs will be sent in advance to those who register)

Knowledge of DSM-based diagnosis

Only DDSs collected using the standard protocol and materials

from subjects ages 13 and up will be worked with at this training. Sorry, no exceptions.

Here's what attendees had to say about recent DDS trainings . . .

"[This training] would be helpful for anyone who does diagnosis and treatment, especially for those who have a limited number of sessions they can work with a client. The wide range of information collected is definitely of clinical importance." — Art therapist, working on board certification

Q: Would you recommend this training to your colleagues?

A: "Yes. Because medical professionals (I work with) who are research-oriented would appreciate and relate to validity and reliability of the DDS."

"Yes!!! You had me at 'legal precedent'! But also, I like the combination of 'operational' and intuitive".

— Art therapist/private practice/MFT

"I have gone over years of past DDSs, and am thrilled at the extra info I have gleaned from the workshop. Invaluable."